The Future Of What Podcast
A Podcast About the State of the Music Industry
Founded by Music Biz President, Portia Sabin as a way to educate musicians on the realities of the music business, The Future of What Podcast has become a forum where significant voices in our industry discuss important issues of the day. Tune in as she hosts important industry figureheads and innovators alike in exciting discussions on where the music business is headed next!
January 7, 2026 – The Future of What Episode #277 — The Future of Fraud Protection: Beatdapp’s Trust & Safety OS Explained
After analyzing nearly 7 trillion streams and 70 trillion data points in the past 18 months, Beatdapp continues to advance the industry’s fraud protection efforts with their new Trust & Safety Operating System. Marking a milestone for Beatdapp, this platform is their first to provide for all sectors of the music industry while also being portable to gaming, creator platforms, streaming video, television and publishing. In this interview, Beatdapp’s Morgan Hayduk and Andrew Batey break down the five unique capabilities of the OS,... Click Here To Listen
January 5, 2026 – The Future of What Episode #276 —How the MFFA Is Taking Ownership of the Music Industry’s Fraud Issue
Two years after the formation of the Music Fights Fraud Alliance (MFFA) and almost one year into Michael Lewan’s appointment as Executive Director, the organization has reached many milestones – including helping put together this year’s iteration of our annual Trust & Safety in Music Symposium! In this episode, Michael details the specific issues the MFFA tackles, what the alliance has accomplished since he joined last February, and discussion points he’s helped program for the symposium.... Click Here To Listen
December 16, 2025 – The Future of What Episode #275 — Standing Out in the Crowded DSP Space: A Conversation with Qobuz’s Dan Mackta
What began in 2007 as a hi-res music download store has grown into a vital platform for global music fans eager for a human-curated, high-quality listening experience. Qobuz has had a massive 2025, which saw them peak at #4 on the iOS App Store thanks in part to viral posts calling out their 24-bit hi-res streaming & download offerings and editorial team-led recommendations. This month, we talk to Qobuz’s Managing Director, Dan Mackta about the company’s history &... Click Here To Listen
December 9, 2025 – The Future of What Episode #274 — Louis Posen Reflects on 30+ Years of Hopeless Records: Indie Success, Charity and the Future
Hopeless Records has passed its third decade in business since we last had label founder Louis Posen on the podcast, so we caught up with him once again to talk all things Hopeless and indie labels! In this episode, Louis walks us through the unique origin of Hopeless, its early ties with Fat Wreck Chords, and their strong commitment to charity – housing Sub City, Songs That Saved My Life and Hopeless Music Academy as a part of the Hopeless Foundation.... Click Here To Listen
November 19, 2025 – The Future of What Episode #273 — Unifying the Music Industry’s Data: A Conversation with Artist Growth’s Matt Urmy
The digital age has created a plethora of data resources for artists and their teams, but it has also highlighted the glaring disadvantages of unorganized, siloed workflows within our industry. As an event management, project management and business intelligence platform, Artist Growth is a testament to how more centralized information creates a better picture of exactly what is and isn’t working for an artist in real time. Hear from Artist Growth co-founder & CEO, Matt Urmy as he walks through the platform’s history,... Click Here To Listen
November 12, 2025 – The Future of What Episode #272 — Updates on Indie Music Retail from The Vinyl Groove Records, The Sound Garden and Zia Records!
In this episode, we caught up with David Wolfe of The Vinyl Groove Records, Bryan Burkert of The Sound Garden, and Mike Durham & Christina Wilson of Zia Records, who highlight the everlasting importance of physical music by diving into exciting happenings at each of their stores. Our guests discuss the impact of the recent Luminate + Street Pulse deal, how Black Friday serves as “Record Store Day Lite,” the resurgence of the CD, and the younger generation’s affinity for vinyl.... Click Here To Listen
November 4, 2025 – The Future of What Episode #271 — Safeguarding Our Industry: Inside Vobile’s Fight Against Fraud
The need for meaningful rights protection will always exist across both the video and audio content industries. Expanding their arm into the audio field with the acquisition of Pex, Vobile now provides solutions for both. We brought Vobile’s SVP of Sales, Larry Mills onto the podcast to discuss the robust sector of the music industry that is fighting against the mass scale of fraud occurring on a daily basis. Mills identifies the important differences between fraudulent assets and fraudulent behavior,... Click Here To Listen
October 28, 2025 – The Future of What Episode #270 — How Mamas In Music is Caring for Caregivers in Our Industry
Consideration of those in a caregiving role is often an afterthought in many industries, but creative industries add an extra layer of challenge due to inconsistent income and schedules. While looking for support in her journey of motherhood while maintaining a career in music, Mamas In Music co-founder Tiff Randol noticed a lack of community, and banded together with Mary Leay to create this support system. We connected with Tiff to discuss the events, partnerships and other initiatives Mamas In Music is looking to put forward,... Click Here To Listen
October 21, 2025 – The Future of What Episode #269 — Reinventing Music Search: AIMS’ Solution for Precision and Unbiased Results
Searching large catalogs via tags can be time-consuming, reinforce biases toward what we already know to save time, and leave a large portion of artist works unexplored. AIMS API looks to utilize AI as an assistive tool for objective and accurate full-catalog discovery via search options that include natural language prompts, similar audio matching, and lyric search to benefit clients working as editors, sound designers, music supervisors, and beyond. In this episode, AIMS CTO Einar Helde unpacks the company’s origins,... Click Here To Listen
October 14, 2025 – The Future of What Episode #268 — How Bootleg is Super-Serving Superfans With a New Kind of Merch
Superfans have been discussed as a promising new revenue stream for artists, and Bootleg is leaning into this concept with an app designed to allow fans to purchase limited release, high-quality audio merch captured from live shows. This platform not only creates direct revenue for touring artists, but helps fans across genres build a community with fellow concert-goers. We spoke with founder Rod Yancy about the app’s offerings, the value The MLC provides in licensing music,... Click Here To Listen
